Ring
by Arctic Husky
Summary: [Sheelos, oneshot, based on 'Rodeo Ride Tour' track four] The celebration of reuniting the worlds leads Sheena to an evening of acting foolish with Zelos, during which she receives a ring... a ring, eternally at her side, a secret.


Oh, I totally _failed_ to finish this one-shot in time for the Sheelos Revival Month... which was a total bust, really. But whether I completed it in time or not, I completed it, and that's what really counts in the end. I still want to contribute to the Sheelos community!

This one-shot is inspired by track four of the Symphonia drama CD _Rodeo Ride Tour_. If you want to read the narration of that track, check out Winged Dancer's adaptation of the drama CD.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia, even after all of these years of adoring it.

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_Ring_

It was the end of our journey—our last night together as a group of friends, as heroes. So what did we choose to do? Go out and drink to the point that we wouldn't even remember how the night was spent, of course. I'm not about to deny that that was one of the worst decisions that we had made in all of our travels together, but even I have to admit that it's only healthy to let loose and have fun every now and then; and that seemed like the appropriate time to do so. Unfortunately, not everyone was old enough to join us on our drunken adventure, so Lloyd, Colette, Genis and Presea did their own thing while the rest of us headed to the city's pub. Technically speaking, I shouldn't have been able to go either, since I wasn't yet twenty-one... or even twenty, for that matter. Somehow that redheaded ex-Chosen managed to convince me to come along, saying that I could "easily pass off as twenty-one with that voluptuous body!" Why I listened to him, I'll never know. I was acting drunk and irrational before even laying my hands on alcohol.

At the bar, there were four of us: Zelos, Raine, Regal and I. How ironic that the rational members of our team—Regal and Raine, not Zelos and I— were out 'partying' at the end of it all. They were still level-headed enough not to succumb to their desires for more alcohol when they knew that they had reached their tolerance level... I wish I had been that sensible. But no, I spent the entire night sitting on a barstool and saying 'one more, please', and eventually just 'one more' as I forgot about common courtesy. I had never had any alcoholic drink before in my life, aside from a sip of champagne on New Years, so needless to say, this new sensation had me intrigued and wanting more... and more, and more, and too much. The same went for Zelos, although he had no excuse because he had had previous chances to establish what his alcohol tolerance was.

So I sat there, guzzling down alcohol as Zelos rambled on and on about something that I couldn't even begin to process. As I stared at him absentmindedly, I suddenly became overwhelmingly aware of how thick the air in the bar was. My stomach twisted awkwardly, which made me widen my eyes with a sudden realization: I needed out. "I—" I interrupted Zelos mid-sentence (or so I assume), planting the palms of my hands on the bar and pushing myself up, "It's... too... gross. I feel gross." The moment that I stood up I was overcome by dizziness and stumbled slightly forward, basically into Zelos' arms.

"Whoa!" Zelos quickly reacted by catching me, and then held my body in front of him as he observed how I looked. "Maybe you should get some air," he suggested, already guided me towards the pub's exit. He may have sounded completely drunk, slurring his words and walking ungracefully, but he still held a reasonable amount of common sense.

Once we got outside, I immediately felt at least a tad better thanks to the rush of fresh air entering my system. I relaxed a little, finding that my abrupt sickness had faded just as quickly as it had come. With a sigh, I looked upwards towards the sky; however the new perspective threw off my balance and I staggered over my own feet yet again. When I levelled my gaze and steadied my footing, I caught Zelos giving me a very strange look. "What?" I snapped, although the 't' was lost in my pronunciation of the word.

He tilted his head slightly to one side, causing his mass of hair to tumble over his shoulder and slightly cover his reddened face. "We headin' back?" he asked. It took me a few thought-filled seconds to process where we would be "headin' back" to. Then I realized that we were all staying in an inn that night... just as we did every other night that we stayed in a city.

"Oh. Uh... Yeah," I answered with some hesitation, "...Where's the inn?"

When I asked that question, Zelos merely blinked at me. For a second I thought that perhaps he believed that I must have been completely drunk to have not known—but that wasn't true at all, "I dunno." He was just as intoxicated as I was. Had I been in my right mind, I may have been alarmed by the fact that neither of us knew where we were going. I may have immediately insisted that we go and find someone to ask for directions, that we try and find the others... But in the state that I was at that moment, I simply burst into laughter. Zelos' eyes widened at my sudden laughter, however instead of being alarmed, he simply shouted, "What the hell?!" as he began to laugh as well.

The two of us continued to plague the streets with our laughter and snorts (because I do recall a few of those) until a natural need for breathing compelled us to stop for a healthy break of inhales and exhales. Once we had had our fill of oxygen, I turned to Zelos and asked rather calmly, "What do we do now?" He casually shrugged his shoulders and then turned away from me and began walking awkwardly down the street that we were on. "Waaaiiit!" I called after him, waving my arms and dashing forward. I halted about halfway through the distance between Zelos and me with another sudden wave of nausea. Zelos also stopped and watched me as I held a hand over my mouth and held perfectly still with wide, uncertain eyes. After a few seconds passed, a subtle hiccup leapt out of my throat, and my body jumped slightly with it. Zelos continued to stare at me without any thought of how intimidating that—would have been, had I been in my right mind. Another hiccup slipped out, more audible than the former one. When he heard it, Zelos let out a rather unattractive snicker before continuing on his journey down the street that we happened to be walking on. As I hurried forward to catch up with him, I wanted to snap some sort of objection, but my incessant hiccups did not let me do so. By the time that they went away, I had completely forgotten about Zelos snide chuckle.

I don't recall if we spoke during our trek to the hotel; that is one of the time periods of that night that remains a complete blur to me. The next thing that I remember is a small street stall standing before us, illuminated from above by one of the lamps that lined the road. Zelos was the first to approach it with interest, the undoubtedly impulsive shopper that he was. I slowly strolled over to him as he scoured the wares with his nose slightly scrunched up. "Such junk," he proclaimed without any thought given to the man working behind the stall.

Just as he turned to continue to our uncertain destination, my eye caught the collection of rings neatly lined up on the front table. "Oh, how pretty," I mumbled while plucking one of them off of the table and holding it up so that the street light's reflection danced upon its cheap, lustrous surface.

Upon noticing my fascination, the worker bluntly stated, "Thirty gald."

I eagerly dug through my robe's pocket and picked out a handful of gald, all the while Zelos looked on in disappointment of my terrible taste in jewellery. I glanced at the table and found three different colour options of the ring available, and in that moment I wanted them all; unfortunately there was only seventy gald in my hand. Zelos had offered to pay for the drinks before we left for the pub, so I had left my money at the hotel. "I can only get two," I said in sadness.

"You really want all three that badly?" Zelos asked me. His voice sounded much clearer than mine did at that time. He must have been much more used to alcohol consumption than I was. In response to his question, I nodded, and he barely took a second before replying, "Then I'll buy you the other one." I let out an excited squeak as I returned my attention to the collection of rings before me. While I was contemplating which ones to buy for myself, Zelos cut into my thoughts, "I want to buy you the green one," he stated, and I agreed without any objection. If he wanted to buy me the green one, then he should feel free to do so.

So I purchased the red and blue rings, he bought me the green one, and we continued on our way. It took a good five minutes of walking for me to notice that Zelos was still holding onto that green ring. "Are you planning on keeping that for yourself?" I blurted out the instant that the realization hit me.

At those words, Zelos came to an immediate stop and almost caused me to step right into him. Thankfully I froze my feet before that happened. He turned around to face me with an exaggerated version of his normal, teasing grin on his face. I knew right away that whatever came out of his lips next was a joke. My thoughts were ultimately confirmed as Zelos dropped down on one knee and held that ring with the fake green gemstone out to me. Stifling back his own sniggers, Zelos inquired, "Will you marry me?"

I rolled my eyes at him and then snatched the ring from his grasp and slipped it onto my right ring finger. "Ha!" I exclaimed, wiggling the fingers on my right hand where the two other rings also rest, "How's that for an answer?!" I thought that I was so witty, placing the ring on my right ring finger instead of my left to express rejection... Zelos gave a melodramatic pout before standing up again and moving along the road. The hotel could be seen ahead of us at that point, so we hurried forward and collapsed the moment that we were in our designated rooms.

The following morning, I awoke with the thoroughly unpleasant greeting of a pounding headache. I clutched my head with my right hand and slowly sat upright. After taking a few minutes to adjust to the pain that I was sure to live with through most of the day, I lowered my hand such that I held it in front of my face. That was when I noticed them: the three rings that had found their places on my index, middle, and ring fingers. The very sight of those rings made my stomach twist in repulsion. I swiftly pulled off the faux-ruby and wannabe-sapphire rings and hurled them into the wastebasket that stood next to the nightstand. As I began to slip the green ring off, I found that it resisted a little more than the other ones. At first I was frustrated with the ring, but when I took a moment to look at it, I could see in its reflection the image of Zelos kneeling before me with that idiotic grin on his face and that hideous ring in his hand. And the image was so endearing that I suddenly did not want to throw that ring away; I wanted to be able to stare into its surface and recall that ridiculous night when Zelos and I had gotten drunk and lost and bought ugly rings from a sketchy salesman. It made me smile.

I tucked that final ring away in my pocket without a second thought. When Zelos saw me that morning, he laughed while talking about those rings that we had bought; and I laughed with him despite the fact that that ring that he had bought just for me was sitting closer to me than anything else. I didn't tell him, and had no intentions to do so at any point in the future. Of course, Zelos always has a way to find things out, even years after an event takes place...

After the journey, I kept a little bag with me at all times, tucked away into my robe and containing only the special objects that I always wanted by my side. Coincidentally, all of those objects fell into my possession during our journey to regenerate the world: it held Corrine's bell, Kuchinawa's charm, and lastly... that dreadful green ring that Zelos had bought me that I simply couldn't bring myself to part with.

One day about two years after the adventure, our group all gathered together as we attempted to do at least once a season, and reminisced about different stories as we always did when we had our little reunions. We would sit around and talk about whatever stood out in our minds at that time, and on that day we came across the topic of how we celebrated our final victory. Through all of the discussion, I had had my hand lightly resting over the spot where my bag of treasures was concealed. We had made it to the end of the conversation without either Zelos or I bringing up our cheap, senseless purchases, but of course that didn't last. As Genis and Colette wandered off to make dinner, the others began talking to each other about what they had done together on that night after the final battle; that left Zelos and I to converse together. "Remember those stupid rings that we bought?" he asked with a snigger. I gave a light chuckle back and nodded in a way that virtually screamed, 'yes, and let's leave it at that'. Mind you, Zelos never particularly excelled in reading people's innermost sentiments. "Man, how trashed must we have been to have wasted even a bit of gald on those? Good thing you tossed them all out! I don't think I'd be able to bear knowing what a heinous gift I had bought for you, my favourite hunny."

My face must have turned red as I thought of the ring, tucked away with the other possessions that I would never be able to part with. "Oh, cut it out," I objected half-heartedly, "They weren't that bad." Zelos merely wrinkled his nose with the same distaste that he had shown when he first laid eyes upon the wares of that street stall; I was very grateful that he did not drag the topic out any longer. I had felt awkward enough as it was, and I doubted that Zelos even noticed or understood why, which in the long run was a positive thing.

Our reunions generally lasted the length of a weekend, so naturally a couple of nights sharing rooms were to be expected—it felt just like old times. At that reunion we were feeling particularly nostalgic, so instead of sleeping in various rooms of Dirk's house, we camped out a few minutes' walk away. After taking some time setting up our sleeping arrangements and preparing our standard campfire, we broke off into different conversation groups as we had always been prone to doing. As Colette and I spoke about senseless things instead of the more serious details of our lives, I set aside some of the unnecessary objects that I had been carrying around with me: and that included my little bag of precious possessions, which I slipped into the case containing my travelling necessities.

When we gathered together as we did on that night, we all seemed to revert back to our younger personalities despite how much we had all grown. The consequence of that tendency, of course, was Zelos acting like a complete and utter fool. In that case, Zelos had opted for his old "harass Sheena until she beats him up" persona. I had been carrying on my conversation with Colette when Tethe'alla's former Chosen strolled up and took a seat on the ground just behind me. I did my best to ignore him as I felt his stare boring into me for a while, and then as I listened to him sigh thoughtfully a few times, and lastly as I heard the sound of him rummaging through something. When the shuffling ceased and Zelos let out an interested 'ooh!', I finally gave in to temptation. "Zelos, what are you doing?" I inquired forcefully while turning to face him, only to find myself frozen into place when I spotted my treasured bag dangling by its string between Zelos' fingers. "Zelos! Give that back!"

I sprang to my feet and basically pounced at him; however he had seen that coming from a mile away, and merely stepped to the side and left me disoriented by my failed attack. "What is this, I wonder?" he mused to himself, casually shifting from one direction to another whenever I aimed to tackle him down and regain what was rightfully mine. "The secret to her beauty, perhaps?" he raised the bag up as high as he possibly could while I tried to swat it down, "Or maybe its contents can answer whatever gave her those wonderfully large, round and irresistible..." I stopped for a moment and glared at Zelos as a smug smirk overwhelmed his face, "...eyes."

"Zelos!" I shrieked my battle cry; and with that, the redhead turned on his heel and sprinted off with me close on his heels. Just before she was out of my earshot, I heard Colette let out a light giggle at our antics; I couldn't blame her at all. We were so childish. I would have laughed, too, if not for the single thought speeding through my mind: What if he sees it? What if he sees it? What if he sees it?

Our chase carried on until we were well out of our friends' seeing and hearing ranges. Our surroundings were nothing more than trees and the dirt path that we ran along. We should have expected what would happen next; really, we should have foreseen its occurrence the second that we set foot onto the unsteady grounds of Iselia Forest. Zelos' toes hit a rock at the perfect place to cause him to stumble. In an instant of reflex, Zelos dropped my bag from his hands and latched onto to a nearby tree so that he did not fall onto the forest floor that was both filthy and undoubtedly covered in more painful rocks. By no means could I blame him for the action that he took to help himself, however the sight of my most treasured objects crashing to the ground was unbearable. It was at the moment when the bag hit the earth, and I spotted a brief, subtle circle of light soar into the brush that I realized what was more important: Zelos not knowing that I had kept the ring that entire time, or the presence of the ring itself in my life. I let out a sharp gasp and shouted with anxiety, "My ring!" And it was about a second later, when I caught Zelos' surprisingly knowing stare, that I regretted saying a word about it.

"What ring?" he asked slyly, suddenly composed despite his rather ungraceful near-fall.

I frowned while fighting the urge to dive into the thickets and search the area. I was much more emotionally upset than I was blindly angry. "The ring that was in that bag, you...!" I cut my sentence off, not quite keen enough on my enraged façade to provoke him through name-calling, "Help me find it."

The former Chosen looked towards the forest brush, pouted his lip slightly, and then looked back towards me. "But I don't know what it looks like," he stated in a way that sounded rehearsed. He knew perfectly well what it looked like, but because I hadn't straightforwardly told him that it was the cheap ring that he had bought me, he continued to act oblivious.

I wrapped my arms over my torso, feeling a wave of insecurity, "It's... a ring," I answered simply, "I highly doubt that there are many of them on the forest floor, so get looking!" With that, I unwrapped my arms and lowered myself to the ground and began searching.

Zelos plopped down next to me in a casual sitting position. He was not about to let it go so easily. "But what kind of ring? A jewellery ring, an onion ring..."

"A jewellery ring, obviously!" I snapped, "One of those normal rings with a single decoration on top. Stop acting so foolish!"

"Is it... a red decoration?"

I bit my lower lip for a second as I continued to stare at the ground. "No," I replied, my voice quavering slightly—not with sadness, but with unbearable embarrassment.

"Is it a blue decoration?"

"No!" I felt as though I wanted to cry, but that would have been quite ridiculous.

"Then is it," he paused, although I did not turn to look at him as he prolonged his final stab at my dignity, "a green decoration?"

"Yes, Zelos, yes! It's green!" I caved in while sending a glare in his direction, "Now please stop joking around and help me find it!"

We both fell into silence for a while. Zelos finally stopped teasing and genuinely assisted me in finding the ring. Words remained dormant until after what felt like an hour of searching, when Zelos finally rose to his feet and stood completely void. With this sudden new action, I followed him to a standing position and found that he was staring at something in his hand: there, held between his fingers, sat the ring with the fake green gemstone, just as it had when he first bought it for me. "You found it," I said, my voice a melange of relief and humiliation.

"Why would you keep it," he asked me, "after all of this time? ...At all, really?"

I walked up to him and stared at the ring, very tempted to respond 'I don't know', because I truly hadn't known for the longest amount of time. As I stood with Zelos, however, the reason seemed so evident. I didn't even think to hide it before speaking. "Because it was so much fun," I answered, "that night. Just acting like utter fools without even having fleeting thoughts of how we must have appeared to sober people. Running around the city without knowing where we were going, and not being concerned about that fact. That was the first time that I ever really got to do such a thing to an extreme, and it was also the last time. I'm always acting so old. There's always so much responsibility weighing me down. I don't have the time and I can't afford the loss of image to have senseless fun like that—"

"Sheena," Zelos cut in with a stern tone that somehow suited him, "Do you honestly think that I'm going to let you live a life without having anymore fun like that?"

A small smile tugged at my lips at that comment, "You say that as though it's a serious matter." Zelos expression was far from thrilled at my response. I sank back slightly as he stood completely still with his eyes focussed beyond mine. "What?" I inquired at last, legitimately uncertain as to what had him acting so stern.

"It is serious," he said matter-of-factly, "If you don't relax and have fun once in a while, you're going to get overwhelmed and have a nervous breakdown." At last, Zelos moved from his frozen state and approached me. When we were standing face-to-face, but a couple of feet apart, Zelos grasped my hand with both of his and simply held it between us as he continued to stare me in the eye. "I've seen it a lot in Meltokio. Crazy women, completely dishevelled, screaming out the second-floor window at their husbands. It's not a pleasant sight—not very becoming of anyone," the words that he used made it sound like a joke, but Zelos was completely serious at that moment, "There is no way in hell that I'm going to let you go down like that," I felt him toying with my fingers as a smile broke out on his face, but thought nothing of it, "Then what would I do, with my eye candy looking terrifying?"

I narrowed my eyes slightly at him before pulling my hand away and leaving it at my side. "Oh, you still can't avoid acting like a fool for extended periods of time, can you?!"

Zelos shifted his gaze away and scratched the back of his neck while shrugging, "Oh well! But I still want you to relax now and then!" He tossed his arms into the air to stretch, and then began meandering down the path towards the camp that we had set up. I watched him for a few seconds before letting out and exasperated sigh and jogging so that I could walk alongside him. We remained silent until the woods were behind us and the campfire could be seen ahead, when Zelos abruptly stopped. I took a few more paces forward before even noticing, but then I slowed down as well. Not desiring to be the one to break the silence, I merely sent Zelos a prying look that plainly asked, What's wrong? While obviously biting back a grin, Zelos answered my mute inquiry, "By the way, we're engaged." My eyes widened at the statement, and my reaction seemed to have set off Zelos' urge to laugh.

"Wh—what?!" I stammered, and then I was spontaneously aware of a light weight on my left ring finger. I lifted my hand up and found myself looking at a plastic-like, green gem resting upon my finger. I dropped my hand again and saw Zelos in my view, sprinting towards our campground with a decent head start. "You really can't be serious for an instant without ruining it with your... anti-serious defence mechanism!"

Apparently Zelos heard my dreadful insult, because his laughter boomed even more. I groaned to myself before finally running after him—both of us arriving at our little group's camp exactly as we had left it, only with slightly more knowledge of one another, and a ring that I neglected to hide away from then on.

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I feel as though the story weakened towards the end, but I'd say that this is overall quite a satisfactory attempt at Sheelos after being dormant for so long. I certainly hope that you readers enjoyed it; and whether you did or not, please leave me a review! I'm still here, and I'm going to continue to write in this section.


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